The present invention relates to foldable strollers or seats of the type which may be supported on wheels, and more particularly to the provision of a foldable stroller or seat which has a seat unit including rigid panel-like seat bottom and back joined together with a frame assembly and a control hub arrangement such that the back can be released and moved with one hand from its normal use position and folded forwardly toward the seat bottom to collapse the entire assembly into a very compact storage unit.
Foldable strollers and seats are well known in the art. There are many examples of strollers and seats which can be folded from their use positions to their storage positions. The stroller or seat of the present invention is novel, not because it is foldable, but because of the manner in which its components, assemblies and units are constructed and connected together by a novel hub arrangement to promote very easy, one-handed control and movement of the stroller or seat from its upright use position to its collapsed storage position.
The present invention, therefore, is a foldable seat comprising a seat unit comprising a back and a seat bottom, the back and seat bottom being relatively movable and the back being collapsible toward the seat bottom as it moves toward a non-use storage position, a collapsible frame assembly comprising a front leg unit and a rear leg unit and a rear leg unit, a push handle, and hub means for providing pivot axes for the seat unit, frame assembly and handle, all of the pivot axes being horizontal and generally parallel. The hub means also comprises means for locking the frame assembly to the seat unit and means for releasing the locking means when the back is moved toward its non-use storage position.
More specifically, the present invention is a foldable seat comprising a seat unit comprising a back and a seat bottom connected to a lower portion of the back for movement about a horizontal seat unit pivot axis, a collapsible frame assembly comprising a front leg unit and a rear leg unit, a push handle, and hub means for providing a plurality of pivot axes, respectively, for the back, front leg unit, rear leg unit and push handle, all of the pivot axes being horizontal and generally parallel. The hub means also comprises means for locking the frame assembly to the back and means for releasing the locking means when the back is moved toward its folded storage position.
In this specification and the appended claims, the term "stroller" shall include the term "seat."
A stroller made in accordance with the present invention, therefore, may preferably comprise a seat unit, a collapsible frame assembly movable between an unfolded use position and a folded storage position, hub means for attaching the seat unit to the collapsible frame assembly for movement relative to the assembly when the assembly is moved between its use and storage positions, and a push handle movable relative to the seat unit between at least two operating positions, for instance, one position to move the stroller in a forward direction and the other position to move the stroller in the rearward direction. The stroller may preferably further comprise means for pivotably connecting the push handle to the hub means for movement about a first pivot axis relative to the seat unit between its two operating positions, handle locking means on the push handle for normally locking the push handle to the hub means to fix the push handle in one of its operating positions and means for releasing the handle locking means for movement to each of its operating positions.
This stroller is assembled with the push handle locking means and the hub means arranged such that a person may hold the handle and actuate the handle locking means with the same hand and manipulate and move the push handle to its positions. The collapsible frame assembly includes a front leg unit pivotably coupled to the hub means for movement about a second pivot axis and a rear leg unit pivotably coupled to the hub means for movement about a third pivot axis, the first, second and third pivot axes being horizontal and generally parallel to establish the foldable nature of the stroller. That is, the push handle folds about a horizontal axis and the leg units of the collapsible frame assembly pivot about generally parallel horizontal axes, all of which are defined by the hub means.
The stroller of the present invention may preferably be constructed such that the seat unit includes a seat, a back, and means for pivotably coupling the back to the seat about a seat unit pivot axis which is also horizontal and generally parallel to the first, second and third axes. The stroller may preferably comprise back locking means for releasably locking the back to the hub means to block movement of the back relative to the collapsible frame assembly. In the illustrative and preferred embodiment of the present invention, the back locking means includes a handle including a grip portion and a locking tab, means for slidably mounting the handle to the back, and spring means for yieldably urging the locking tab into slot means provided by the hub means to retain the back in one of its fixed positions. This handle may be actuated by an operator placing one hand on the back and, with the same hand, gripping the handle to release the back from the hub means for folding the back forwardly toward the seat to place the stroller in its folded, storage position. This movement of the back operates through the hub means to release the collapsible frame assembly. The illustrative and preferred back is pivotably coupled to the hub means for movement about the first pivot axis, i.e., the same pivot axis as the push handle pivot axis, and the seat is connected to the lower portion of the back for pivotal movement about the seat unit pivot axis. In the illustrative and preferred embodiment, therefore, the hub means includes a back lock hub and a handle lock plate adjacent to the back lock hub, and the back lock hub is situated between the seat unit and the handle lock plate.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a foldable stroller comprising a seat unit, a collapsible frame assembly movable between an unfolded use position and a folded storage position, hub means for attaching the seat unit to the collapsible frame assembly for movement relative to the assembly when it is moved between its use and storage positions, a push handle movable relative to the seat unit between at least two operating positions, means for pivotably connecting the push handle to the hub means for movement about a first pivot axis relative to the seat unit between its two operating positions, handle locking means on the push handle for normally locking the push handle to the hub means to fix the push handle in one of its operating positions and means for releasing the locking means to permit movement of the push handle relative to the seat unit to each of its operating positions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable stroller comprising a seat unit including a seat and a back, means for pivotably coupling the back to the seat for movement about a seat unit pivot axis, a collapsible frame assembly movable between an unfolded use position and a folded storage position, hub means for pivotably coupling the back to the collapsible frame assembly for movement relative to the frame assembly about a first pivot axis so that the seat is free to move relative to the collapsible frame assembly and to pivot relative to the back about the seat unit pivot axis during movement of the back relative to the collapsible frame assembly, and back locking means for releasably locking the back to the collapsible frame assembly to block movement of the back relative to the collapsible frame assembly so that the back and seat are retained in a selected fixed position relative to one another and to the collapsible frame assembly. In this invention, the back locking means include a handle which may be gripped with one hand to release the back for movement, and the pivotal movement of the back about the hub means operates through the hub means to release the frame assembly for collapsing about the aforesaid second and third pivot axes defined by the hub means for movement of the leg units.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable stroller comprising a seat unit including a seat and a back, means for pivotably coupling the back to the seat for movement about a seat unit pivot axis, a collapsible frame assembly movable between an unfolded use position and a folded storage position, hub means for pivotably coupling the back to the collapsible frame assembly for movement relative to the collapsible frame assembly about a first pivot axis during movement of the back relative to the seat about the seat unit pivot axis, frame locking means for locking the hub means to the collapsible frame assembly to block movement of the collapsible frame assembly from its unfolded use position to its folded storage position and control means on the hub means for releasing the frame locking means during pivoting movement of the back about the first pivot axis toward the seat so that the collapsible frame assembly is movable from its unfolded use position to its folded storage position.
A novel feature of the present invention is the manner in which the wheels are mounted to have a very effective shock absorber system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wheel assembly comprising a support sleeve, means for mounting the support sleeve to a distal end of the stroller leg, a wheel support member, a wheel rotatably mounted on the wheel support member for rotation about an axis of rotation, means for coupling the wheel support member to the support sleeve for pivotable movement about a horizontal pivot axis so that the wheel support member is pivotable to move the wheel in a use position and a shock-absorbing position, the wheel support member being configured to locate the axis of rotation of the wheel in offset relation to a central axis of the stroller leg when the wheel is moved to its use position, and shock absorber means for yieldably pivoting the wheel support member about the horizontal pivot axis to move the wheel normally to its use position in offset spaced-apart relation to the central axis of the stroller leg, the shock absorber means including a curved supporting post appended to the support sleeve and a compression spring mounted on the curved supporting post.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent as this description progresses.